The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Wednesday mirroring gains in other international markets after a gauge of global equity markets rebounded in a late-session rally on Tuesday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell calmed fears of rising interest rates that have roiled bonds and helped spur assets linked to expectations of a strong recovery. The Sensex rose as much as 214 points and Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 14,750.
As of 9:25 am, the Sensex was up 88 points at 49,839 and Nifty advanced 43 points to 14,751.
Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank were among the top movers in the Sensex. While, TCS, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and Power Grid were top drags.
Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Metal index’s nearly 2 per cent gain. Nifty PSU Bank, Auto, Media, Energy, Realty and Financial Service indexes also rose between 0.51.7 per cent.
On the other hand, IT and FMCG shares were witnessing selling pressure.
Mid- and small-cap shares were outperforming their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.7 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 1 per cent.
Coal India was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose nearly 5 per cent to Rs 143. Bajaj Finance, Indian Oil, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Eicher Motors, Reliance Industries and UltraTech Cement also rose between 1-2 per cent.
On the flipside, UPL, TCS, GAIL India, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and Dr Reddy’s Labs declined between 0.6-2 per cent.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,549 shares were trading higher while 627 were declining in the BSE.
